Best all time fighter aircraft
 

Hi guys,

I was wondering which fighter aircraft do you guys consider the best in history. I mean the best for its time. The one that has been way superior to its rivals at the time it has been in service.

Hasn't this been done already?

Endlessly.....

Still, my entry for best fighter of WW2, a carrier based aircraft....


The Great Geek Manual Picture of the Week: Crashed X-Wing Fighter

F-15C - utterly brilliant in all respects.

Focker triplane. :E

Best is one thing, but most important is another. Hurricane Mk1 - rugged, fast to build, easy to fix, easier to fly than the Spitfire, and most importantly, available in large enough numbers in time for the Battle of Britain.

if you believe the "Top Ten Fighters" documentary that is endlessly repeated on Sky - the answer is the P-51 Mustang. (But it is an American made programme. The Spit came 6th I believe).

P51D gets my vote. Best of American and British.

IMHO This takes some beating.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LveSc8Lp0ZEg.

There's only one and it was built by Supermarine.

Not again !!!:(

:rolleyes::rolleyes: Clearly photoshopped! I mean, who in their right mind would land an X-wing with the S Foils in Attack position?:rolleyes::rolleyes:

F-15 I would guess.

If you belive the hype it has something like a 200-0 kill ratio.

Can't think of anything that comes close to that.

Remind me why we got the Tonka ADV instead?

Or perhaps the F-16 and the Shar, they also have a summat to nil kill ratio.

Little Nell !

As one who had the enormous privilege to fly both land-based & carrier versions, I regard the Wiggins Aerodyne as the pinnacle of Fighter a/c design.

Nimrod Mr2
 

Beat every submarine in a fight.

Carried AA missiles to the fight 3000 miles away!

Best for its time? That depends on the circumstances and the Oppositions response. For example - 264 Sqn RAF went into action with their Boulton & Paul Defiants on 12 May 1940 and by 31 May had claimed 65 EA destroyed. Such success was short lived and the aircraft was quickly relegated to the Night Fighter role as daylight losses mounted.

On the other hand I would suggest that the People of Malta in the early 1940's would insist it was 3 Sea Gladiators named "Faith, Hope and Charity".

no contest, it's got to be the deja vu groundhog

The 'new mark' the other guys get issued, which has an extra 250hp/1000lbs thrust, with no weight increase.

Buster,

Mechanical failure perhaps? Which is why it crashed...?









But thanks for joining in, rather than just posting yet another boring reply.... :D:D

Wiggins Aerodyne
 

Ah yes, the veil of Stygian darkness which clouds my memory rolls away and I am in another era; I can savour the heady scent of freshly-cut grass on the airfield through the open window of my room in the Mess. My loyal but incredibly stupid Batman, Pigglethwaite, has just spilt my morning tea over my reclining torso; I intend to scrutinise King's Regulations after breakfast to establish if I can have him shot.

Rising from my Dream Chariot, which I have shared this past night with the delightful Miss Lana Turner, I catch the refrain of a song on a distant wireless by a chap called Sinbad, or Sinatra, or something similar. I doubt he'll come to much. Must remind the spectacularly useless Pigglethwaite to lay out my cricket gear; having a few overs this evening with the good Burgers of Much Piddling in the Marsh, our most adjacent Teeming Metropolis & a den of vice. Ho hum, perhaps we shall strike some suitable hostelry a glancing blow & partake of a modest libation therein, once we have sated our need for the thwack of leather on willow.

Breakfast over (deuced salty kippers this morn), I am walking towards my machine, my Sidcot suit a tad warm on this glorious summer day. The morning breeze stirs her wings; she quivers like a fine horse eager for the first gallop of the day. The chaps have finished securing the Observation Basket to the ventral position; they greet me with due deference, and stand clear. All is ready...........

To keep some people on PPRuNe happy, I'd have to say the 'Corporate' version of the Nimrod MR2.

:O

Duncs:ok:

Surely the R2 unit would have fixed that in flight?